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Behind The Music

Tufts' rock-trio Guster continues to gain ground, as scenes from the new movie "Life As A House" were inspired by (and feature) their songs. Los Angeles.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [11.16.01] When Oscar-nominated writer Mark Andrus started working on the opening scenes to his new movie "Life as a House," he turned to the music of three Tufts graduates for inspiration. He must have found what he was looking for. Using Guster's "What You Wish For," Andrus incorporated the band's music, and the emotions they depict, into the opening scenes of the film, setting the stage for Kevin Klein's lead character and the film's poignant story.

"They just have such range and beauty in both their lyrics and the composition of their music," Andrus, who co-wrote "As Good As It Gets," told Premier Magazine. "It was exactly the tone and feel that I wanted for the movie."

He liked the music of the Tufts graduates so much, that Andrus worked Guster into several parts of the film.

"Not only did he want a Guster song to open his film, but he named Kevin Klein's dog in the movie 'Guster' and used a darkly passionate Guster song called 'Rainy Day' during a climatic scene in which [Klein's] teenage son engages in small-time prostitution," reported Premier Magazine.

Guster's Ryan Miller said the fusion of their music with Andrus' film worked well.

"That scene gave the song new life that it didn't have before," Miller told the entertainment magazine. "For me, songs feel like pictures or colors, and I thought this was an effective color to put with this boy at this point in his life."

Andrus said the combination was a natural fit for "Life As A House" -- a film about a man who has hit rock bottom and decides to tear down and rebuild his house (and his life) from the ground up.

"I knew I wanted to see both George [Kevin Klein] and Sam [Hayden Christensen] waking up in a life that they really are not excited to wake up to," Andrus told Premier about the movie's opening scene.

Guster's lyrics from "What You Wish For" -- Woke up today, to everything gray... sweep all the pieces under the bed... -- captured the tone perfectly.

"It was like 'there it is, there it is,'" Andrus said, describing Guster's song.

For the Tufts graduates, the inclusion in the film is the latest accomplishment in a quickly expanding career.

"Miller formed the band in 1993 at Tufts University with Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel," reported Premier. "Since then, Guster has established itself as an intelligent, underground rock-pop band, widely known in college and indie-rock circles."